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Monday, July 23, 2012

The King of One

"Take me to your
leader." the creature pretending to be a man said, dressed immaculate
in his three-piece suit and tie. William shook his head, "I am the
leader." was the curt reply, regal and almost impatient. What an odd
pair they were, one so immaculately dressed and another in ripped
jeans, a tattered shirt and a bonnet from the gods knew where. "Lies.
I've watched your world and I've seen your leader, but I require an
introduction." was the man's reply. It had watched the people of the
planet from afar and knew how they were dressed. In its warped mind, the
tattered old man was the key to meeting the leader. It had run the
numbers twice, thrice, to be sure. The cultural norms of this planet
were odd in its head but the numbers did not lie. This man was the key
to meeting the leader.

"I am the leader." The impatient reply as the man busied himself with warming his hands on the fire made from an old steel drum.

"You
cannot be. The leader dresses regally. I have studied this world." No
plan ever survived first contact with the enemy and it was proven to be
true, once again, in this case. It had been planned, the harbinger
would meet with the leader and discuss the terms of surrender.
Creatures like itself would swoop down from the skies and enslave the
people of this world. Destruction would follow, a destruction that it
did not want. A destruction they did not want. No. Much like the people
of this world, his people would prefer a benevolent sort of
assimilation, to simply discuss the terms of surrender(which, really,
were "surrender or die") but to do that, his code required him to have
an introduction. After watching all seven billion of the planet's
inhabitants, this man in all his degeneration, was the key to the
introduction.

"I am the leader." The bearded man so dirty
as he were once again re-affirmed and the creature started doubting
itself. Had he made an error? Was he truly the leader? The way he had
said it made it seem so, that he was the leader.

"Proof. I
require it." the creature said, its facial features creasing in
annoyance at the error. The seed of doubt planted, now unsure if such
claims were true.

"I own the sky." the man said simply
and looked up, the creature followed his gaze and frowned. "No one can
own the sky." it replied and the man shook his head. "I do." again with
such certainty! The audacity of the man made the creature frown. "Says
who?" it asked, borrowing from the language of the youth, the youth
that would one day grow old enough to be enslaved. "Says I." the man
replied and looked back down, staring the creature in the face. Its
blue fake-eyes returning the gaze. "But the others do not own the sky,
and if anyone did, they do not allow it."

"What are they,
but my subjects?" was the still-impatient retort and the creature then
tilted its head. An all-too human show of confusion. "They cannot tell
the leader what not to do." he waved the creature off and returned to
the fire. "If you are truly the leader, then why are you dressed like
this? Why do you live in this alley? Why here?" it did not make sense to
the creature. The leader turned to him, a smile visible even from the
bushy beard. "Because I can. Because they cannot stop me." he sneered
petulantly at the creature.

The creature took a step back.
It had never known fear, but even to those who did not know it, it
existed. The creature scowled, "If you truly are the leader, then
surrender or die." the terms brought forth, the man shook his head.
"No." he replied and the creature smiled. "Do you not care for your
people? Do you not care if we kill them?" it asked, its singsong voice
now taunting the leader. "No." was the King's reply, and a soft chuckle
for flourish. Turning to the creature, he shook his head. "What are
they, but my subjects?" he asked, then walked away.

NOTE: This is a note posted recently by a friend. All credit goes to the original author, and I'm posting this here to promote redundancy. It would be a waste to see good material get buried and forgotten. I'm not sure why, but it resonates a seemingly Cthulhu-esque vibe, albeit the roles have become reversed. Original post can be found here.